How to Save the NBA: A plan to reboot an infuriating league

While NBA fan culture eagerly accommodates the free market fluidity of team rosters across the country, the flaws exposed in the current system call into question whether professional basketball will ever reach the global popularity that soccer has. Although the American basketball fan’s willingness to pledge loyalty regardless of team results echoes European notions of civic pride and fanaticism, the American sports fan’s commitment to its hometown teams lacks the depth of investment that it could have if the players that they cheered for were actually products of their respective communities or geographical regions.

Although the NBA thrives as it currently exists (for lack of a viable alternative), one issue cannot be denied: the dilution of talent distributed across 30 teams makes the NBA ticket less valuable than the league would have fans believe. The unpredictability of injuries and the fatigue that naturally sets in over the course of a long season makes it less possible for NBA teams to guarantee a high quality product every night, especially with success hinging upon so few star players on a team. NBA organizations’ attempt to supplement the live game experience with music, side attractions and t-shirt guns. However, paying NBA ticket holders would much rather feel like they were getting their money’s worth on the court.

The NBA exemplifies how capitalism has wedged between collective consciousness and the individualistic American dream (ignoring the legitimate argument that the collective consciousness is individualism). When witnessing success, sports fans are quick to embrace the players who represent their teams and can be just as dismissive when those same players fail, while maintaining their allegiance to the organization that the city is stuck with. The fickle attitude toward players that NBA fans sometimes carry stems from the limited connection that players have to the communities they represent.

But imagine an NBA where the fans could embrace their teams’ players as their own because they actually were. Imagine a league where teams, even when outmatched in talent, channeled their pride into a gutsy performance that even casual fans could respect. And imagine an NBA that had teams whose playoffs would not be ruined by 1 or 2 injuries.

The full implications may be challenging to ponder in an instant. Fortunately, Marz Daily Media has done the heavy lifting. So in this edition of The Weekender, Marz Daily Media presents The NBA Premier League!

Before we begin…

Roster basics:

American players may sign with their hometown’s regional team or their college town’s regional team. If neither team signs a player, the player may play for either region’s NBA Development League team

Players who wish to play outside of the home or college region must forfeit 1 full year of NBA Premier League eligibility while becoming a resident of the new region. The moving player may redshirt before participating in Premier League play (example: LeBron James taking his talents to South Beach would have required a 1-year delay)

International players, who did not attend an American college, may sign with any team, or be acquired via International Draft

What the 2011-2012 NBA Premier League Would Have Looked Like

The NBA Premier League consists of two conferences, each with two divisions. Each team has acquired players from their respective hometown or college town regions, as shown below. The asterisk (*) denotes international players who have been added to the rosters via an Executive Committee of one (ME!).

You might be wondering…

Q: Only 16 teams?! What about all those good players that don’t get on teams?

A: In the interest of guaranteeing the most elite talent, this cutoff will ensure that each team only has exceptional depth. The vast regions that some of these teams cover also leaves room in other regional markets to have spectacular talent in this alternate universe’s NBA Development League.

While the contraction to 16 teams seems like it would leave a lot of players out in the cold, the more competitive roster selection allows basketball fans who live too far from their regional NBA team to make shorter trips see players that they followed all through high school and college as they try to get called up by the big show. Cities like Detroit, Cleveland, and Seattle (without Premier League teams) would generate ticket revenue for their D-League games thanks to diehard U of Michigan, Ohio State, and U of Washington fans. The entire region stands to gain through job creation and access to live basketball that is still quite good.

And let’s face it: with 30 NBA teams that can sign 15 players (only 9 of whom actually play), the system is clearly broken when high school basketball programs have better attendance than games featuring NBA hopefuls. More crudely, no one wants to watch real-world D-League basketball. It’s worse than the WNBA. Seriously.

Q: Since international players did not grow up in America, can they just get traded and go wherever they want whenever they want?

A: No. Once an international player signs to a team, they become a resident of the team’s state. Such residency makes the player subject to the same terms of mobility as any American player, meaning they, too, would have to sit out an entire year in a new team’s region before returning to action.

Q: What about this Bizarro D-League? Can redshirting players play for those minor league affiliates during their waiting period?

A: Yes! Teams that sign players from another region may place their acquired players on their minor league roster. It is of the opinion that the Executive Committee that such an allowance will help organizations generate a buzz in minor league markets (thus boosting ticket sales in those areas) as well as keep their newly acquired players from getting too rusty without in-game experience.

Q: How many games will be played in this league per season?

A: 40, not including playoffs. 40 games is enough for 16 teams to play division rivals 4 times, non-divisional conference teams 3 times, and non-conference teams twice. I defy anyone to tell me that an 82 game season in today’s game is conducive to a consistently high-quality product.

Q: These regions will not solve the small market vs. big market problems concerning revenue generation and competitive player compensation. With so many great players on teams, will players be able to make the huge salaries that they make in the real world?

A: Maybe not, but and here’s the bright side: no salary cap. Players can negotiate their contracts based on the cost of living in their region, ticket sales and merchandise.

Team revenue (and, in turn, player salaries) can increase even more with the introduction of sponsor jerseys. If players have to have Aaron’s, Kohl’s, or Publix across their chest to keep up with the Knicks or Lakers, then organizations have every right to exercise that option.

Q: Is any of this even remotely possible?

A: Of course not, unless the Men In Black locate all of the rich people involved in the sports industry, show them the flashy thingy, and tell them that they actually care about the health of the sport and the communities that basketball serves….so…yeahhh.

Afterword

Anyone reading this article should understand that, in doing all this work, I Love This Big Game Where Fantastic Happens. But the NBA’s flaws make clear that the role money plays in sports damages the integrity of competition, team spirit, and the public interest. Sports writer Bill Simmons has suggested several interesting and entertaining ideas to improve the NBA, which are more actionable than the NBA Premier League, but equally as unlikely (alas).

I appreciate all of the people who are still reading for humoring this outlandish concept that will only be fodder for basketball geeks like me. For those of you out there who are sick and tired of injuries, greedy agents, and idiotic team management so drastically altering the game we love, I dedicate this post to you.